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AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, cofounder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel partners or create a self-branded platform? The case describes the evolving business app market by analyzing the strategies and business models of competitors for both the marketplace and portal products. The marketplace offers small businesses search, trial, and purchase of software-as-a-service apps for a wide range of business needs, from customer management to human resources, while the portal service gives businesses the ability to manage all their apps in one place, from user management to single sign-on. The case encourages discussion on the evolution and future direction of this nascent market.

In July 2007, Scripps Networks acquired Recipezaar, a user-generated recipe and cooking Website with a captive community of 2.3 million visitors. By September, Deanna Brown, president of Scripps Networks Digital, grappled with how to best integrate the recent acquisition into Scripps Networks Digital and its affiliated Website, FoodNetwork.com. Should monetization efforts trump the interests and aesthetic tastes of Recipezaar's members? Would restructuring the Recipezaar team dampen the enthusiasm of its five crucial employees and adversely affect the community they had built? What effect would a rebranding have on the community at large?

"This trial is going to take longer." Those were words that Michael Kaschke, CEO of Carl Zeiss AG, was not surprised to hear as he nurtured the intraoperative radiotherapy business inside his company's microsurgery unit. But he also didn't expect it to take 13 years to get to the end of an all-important clinical trial that was a critical enabler to the granting of reimbursement codes. The technology was clearly disruptive to him, but as the business confronted the challenges of improving the standard of care for women with breast cancer, he couldn't help but wonder if the greater opportunity was in vastly underserved emerging markets. But for 13 years he had been telling the team the importance of focus, and as the advanced markets of Germany, the UK, and the US started to hit high growth rates, was he now telling them something different? Was this a focus question or a strategic sequencing question?

For Carl Zeiss Microimaging, modular hardware and software enabled customers to tailor Zeiss's broad range of microscopy systems hardware and software to meet a wide range of needs from basic scientific research in the biological and medical sciences to clinical applications, materials science, and industrial sectors. Modularity also provided Carl Zeiss' engineers the benefit of decoupling the development schedules of individual components and subsystems. Yet the well codified interfaces at many module boundaries also opened the system up to outside providers of components, mainly software. This served research scientists who were doing cutting edge research extremely well, as they wanted to be able to apply the latest techniques and analysis tools. At the other extreme, clinical and QA/QC applications by their nature had a much higher need for automation, because of the repetitive nature of tasks. Simple, integrated solutions seemed to make more sense in these circumstances, and many applications did not demand the ultraprecision of Carl Zeiss's hardware platforms. Rather there was a call for simplicity and robustness, especially in production environments. The case exposes some of the strategic issues and opportunities facing the microscopy business.

Metrology plays a key role in the manufacture of mechanical components. Traditionally it is used extensively in a pre-process stage where a manufacturer does process planning, design, and ramp-up, and in post-process off-line inspection to establish proof of quality. The area that is seeing a lot of growth is the in-process stage of volume manufacturing, where feedback control can help ensure that parts are made to specification. The Industrial Metrology Group at Carl Zeiss AG had its traditional strength in high precision coordinate measuring machines, a universal measuring tool that had been widely used since its introduction in the mid-1970s. The market faced a complex diversification of competition as metrology manufacturers introduced new sensor and measurement technologies, and as some of their customers moved towards a different style of measurement mandating speed and integration with production systems. The case discusses the threat of new in-line metrology systems to the core business as well as the arising new opportunities.

Firms in an industry typically cluster around a few strategic positions, and the intense competition on those occupied "mountaintops" makes it hard for firms to gain attractive returns. Superior opportunities lie on unoccupied mountaintops. Yet because those opportunities are "cognitively distant"-far from the status quo-strategists have trouble recognizing and acting on them. Competition, therefore, is weak. Most managers are trained to analyze economic forces when they want to identify new opportunities. But that approach usually won't uncover the kinds of ideas that overturn the status quo. Recent research on human cognition suggests that leaders would do better to use associative thinking to spot, act on, and legitimize distant opportunities. They should learn to make analogies with businesses in other industries. For example, Charles Merrill launched an extraordinarily successful business when he reimagined banking as a "financial supermarket." This article explores ways to jump-start associative thinking-and to bring stakeholders along on the journey.

Traditional approaches to strategy assume that the world is relatively stable and predictable. But globalization, new technologies, and greater transparency have combined to upend the business environment. In this period of risk and uncertainty, more and more managers are finding competitive advantage in organizational capabilities that foster rapid adaptation. Instead of being really good at doing some particular thing, companies must be really good at learning how to do new things. Those that thrive are quick to read and act on weak signals of change. They have worked out how to experiment rapidly and frequently not only with products and services but also with business models, processes, and strategies. They have acquired the skills to manage complex multi-stakeholder systems in an increasingly interconnected world. And, perhaps most important, they have learned to unlock their greatest resource: the people who work for them. The authors, senior partners at the Boston Consulting Group, review these four types of organizational capabilities, showing what companies at the leading edge are doing to create them. They also discuss the particular implications of this fundamental strategic shift for large corporations, many of which have built their operations around scale and efficiency-sources of advantage predicated on an essentially stable environment.

Twenty years ago, few people would have predicted that Samsung could become a world leader in R&D, marketing, and design. Fewer still would have predicted success given the path it has taken: grafting Western business practices onto its essentially Japanese model. Like today's emerging giants, Samsung faced a paradox: The tightly integrated business system that worked in its home market could not secure its future in global markets. So into an organization focused on continuous process improvement, Samsung introduced a focus on innovation. Into a homogeneous workforce, it introduced outsiders who could not speak the language and were unfamiliar with the company's culture. Into a Confucian tradition of reverence for elders, it introduced merit pay and promotion, putting some young people in positions of authority over their elders. Chairman Lee Kun-Hee recognized at the outset the challenges of opening up Samsung's culture to new ideas. He changed only what needed to be changed, ensured that people understood the new practices, and never flagged in his commitment to the effort.

Jonathan Miller appeared in September 2009 on "Shark Tank", the ABC television reality show featuring entrepreneurs versus angel investors in a discussion of the business value proposition and to win a negotiation for an investment from one of the 4 Sharks. The company he founded, Element Bars, a maker of custom energy bars, needed investment capital. Prior to appearing on the show, Miller had considered several financing options available to entrepreneurs: loans and other debt capital and equity capital, each of which are evaluated in the case. Miller had a good feel for the different types of capital to use for this new venture, having started several ventures in the past and winning the Kellogg School of Management business plan competition, the Kellogg Cup, in 2008. The case includes Miller's decision to forego the investment offer he won on television, instead he pursued lower cost of capital equity.

The Moncton Flight College (MFC) has grown significantly since its days as a flying club in the Golden Age of Aviation and become one of Canada's foremost pilot training schools. In late 2005 - after having weathered several setbacks (both internal and external) that have depleted the organization's resources - Principal Mike Doiron is faced with the challenge of determining a plan of action that can be presented to the Board of Directors. Several alternatives exist, including the maintenance of the status quo, international expansion into the Chinese market, retrenchment in Canada, greater commitment to existing European efforts, or some combination of these. Mike must also determine whether the College has the resources to pursue whatever plan is decided upon.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. There is no dearth of advice or resources on how to turn corporations into fountains of creative ideas. However, as veteran leaders of innovation campaigns know, the problem for most large organizations usually isn't a shortage of ideas -it's figuring out how to ferret out the good ones. As experienced executives know, delegating critical decisions comes with risks. The corporation may end up promoting ideas senior management does not deem worthy; alternatively, it may not pursue projects top management would have promoted had they known about them. Therefore, it's essential for senior managers to understand the mechanisms at work when their staff evaluates one another's ideas, so that executives can design an efficient idea selection process to hone in on the ideas that will make a real difference to the organization as they move through the innovation funnel. This article, based on research on more than 10,000 innovation proposals from within a large multinational corporation, examines what happens when ideas are screened through a large organization. Senior managers need to design systems, or funnels, where the ideas they are likely to favor are either (a) selected by subordinate managers for further evaluation at their level or (b) if the ideas are of sufficient importance or promise, flagged to the attention of top management for further evaluation. In a sense, the real challenge in selecting good ideas is optimizing the trade-off between the direct selection costs on the one hand and the costs of both missing out on good ideas and implementing the wrong ideas on the other. The author describes seven "setscrews"that senior managers can adjust to their particular context to ensure that the most promising innovation proposals -and only those -stand a good chance of being implemented.

This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. Sometimes products and markets that seemingly have nothing in common 'taxonomically' can have 'thematic similarity,' which may open up important business opportunities.

When ICICI, an Indian private bank, entered the retail banking market in the 1990's with little technology infrastructure, capital, and retail expertise, had expected it to succeed. Public-sector banks, holding 75 percent of deposits, were dominating the retail banking market, and foreign giants had cornered the market for high-net-worth individuals living in the major cities across India. With a strategy to offer credit cards to the middle class, abolish annual fees, and enter into partnerships with major retailers, ICICI quickly proved the skeptics wrong. Revenues per employee grew to over $9 million compared to about $3 million for the Bank of India and slightly below $160,000 for Standard Chartered. The lofty number one position was achieved by Vaidyanathan, ICICI's head of retail, and his team. Their progressive initiatives were focused on developing new products and improving consumer service experiences. As the 2008-2009 financial crisis tripled the percentage of nonperforming assets in the Indian banking industry, Vaidyanathan had to plan how ICICI would adapt to the new environment and maintain industry leadership.

In 2011, Walmart was the world's largest company, with $420 billion in sales and operations in 14 countries. Yet it found itself searching for the right growth strategy moving forward. U.S. same-store sales had declined for eight consecutive quarters, and Walmart was increasingly becoming dependent on international sales. Meanwhile, intense competition came from various players, ranging from general discounters to dollar stores to online retailers. What should Walmart do as its traditional markets and core competencies no longer ensure the kind of growth that it had enjoyed for decades in the past?

This case presents a way to test the efficacy of a firm's corporate diversification strategy or its corporate advantage. In this context, the performance of several lines of business is considered simultaneously within a corporate family; comparisons are made with other diversified firms that compete with the firm for capital. This case expands upon the corporate advantage paradigm of Collis & Montgomery through six tests that consider the underlying and moderating forces of fit and intervention in operations in order to arrive at a corporate strategy which is balanced on all dimensions and creates the desirable outcomes of superior competitive advantage.

John Pinkerton, CEO of natural gas company Range Resources, must consider supporting or condemning a new bill passed by Congress that could add more regulations to one of Range's most effective mining methods: fracking. Pinkerton must consider the benefits and costs of supporting or condemning the new legislation and how it will impact his company.

In 2011, Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate) was the global leader in oral care, with a dominant market share lead in toothpaste and a growing presence in toothbrushes and mouthwash. However, the firm faced stiff competition with perennial rivals P&G increasing their focus on the oral care and emerging markets where Colgate had traditionally been untouchable. To defend its lead Colgate attempted to cover all fronts, leveraging brand equity, fostering close relationships with dental professionals, innovating in underutilized markets, using its global network to quickly move products to market and reinvesting steadily in its brand.

Vanguard Group management, led by CEO John Brennan, was considering whether to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in early 2000. ETFs, first created in the early 1990s, combined aspects of traditional mutual funds and closed-end funds. The US ETF industry had reached $36 billion in assets under management, growing rapidly over the past few years. Because ETFs were exclusively index-tracking products, Vanguard, the largest index mutual fund company, had some potential expertise in managing ETFs. However, entering this market would present also unique challenges for Vanguard. Vanguard had a philosophy espousing low-turnover investing, while ETFs enabled short-term trading. The company would also need to develop a distribution network for ETFs. Finally, since Vanguard's mutual fund investors owned the company, management considered whether existing shareholders would benefit from an ETF product launch.

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Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, faced a critical decision in 2011 after closing a $12 billion deal to buy its troubled North America bottling operations from its biggest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises. The decision was prompted by several changes in the U.S. market, including the bottler's inability to make crucial investments, the growth of alternative, non-sparkling drinks, and the growing power of national accounts, such as Wal-Mart. Now that Coke owned most of its North American bottling network, Kent had to decide whether keeping the labor and capital-intensive side of the bottling business was in Coke's long-term strategic interest. If not, should he re-franchise the bottling business, again, as Coke had done in the past? Or was there a third path? For one of the most successful companies in the world over the last 100 years, Kent's answers to these questions had the potential to redefine Coke's business model for the next century.